Game Thread: Brewers (Gasser) @ Pirates (Skenes)

[LouisEly]

18 games in 17 days, last 11 were on the road covering three different time zones with one day off and two doubleheaders, went 10-8.

Let's all take a few deep breaths these next five days.

[Bulldogboy]

If Brewers were up 10 at the break they would stay status quo. Hopefully this ending keeps them aware that upgrades are needed. 

[Jim French Stepstool]

1 hour ago, adambr2 said:

Can anyone give any good reason that Luis Lara shouldn’t be our leadoff hitter?

He gets on base at a ridiculous clip. .432 in Nashville this year, .444 as a Brewer. Yes obviously small sample size, but his minors numbers suggest it isn’t just some flukey walks. Even if he ends up at .375, with his base stealing ability, that’s more than fine. 

He's a 'traditional' leadoff hitter in a non-traditional era, but I don't think that's a very good reason for him to not hit up there. The main thing is that he plays, which early returns show should be happening, and I'd be happy with him in either of the top two spots in the order. Frankly I'd rather hit him 9th than 6th, which is where he's been a couple of times.

[Brewcrew82]

I think people's expectations were/are way too high with Chourio. 

He's got a 127 wRC+ so far which is easily a career high, while providing plus value on the bases and in the field. On pace for a 4+ fWAR season over 162. That's a great player. 

Does he still leave you wanting with his swing decisions in a manner that's preventing from ascending to one of best handful of players in the game? Certainly. 

A "disappointment"? Hardly. Few guys are instant MVPs at age 22. Chourio's production to this point places him in a very select group in MLB history filled with HOFers. Development isn't linear. PCA, for instance, is two years older and is only now starting to show better swing decisions. It took Jordan Walker until this year and he was infinitely worse than Chourio. Bottom line, is we are incredibly fortunate to have him locked up for the foreseeable future. 

I pray you don't have the same expectations with Made, who is hitting at a similar level in AA right now as Chourio did. 

[baseball101]

2 minutes ago, Brewcrew82 said:

I think people's expectations were/are way too high with Chourio. 

He's got a 127 wRC+ so far which is easily a career high, while providing plus value on the bases and in the field. On pace for a 4+ WAR season over 162. 

Does he still leave you wanting with his swing decisions in a manner that's preventing from ascending to one of best handful of players in the game? Sure

A "disappointment"? Hardly. Few guys are MVPs at age 22. Chourio's production to this point places him in a very select group in MLB history filled with HOFers. Development isn't linear. We are incredibly lucky to have him locked up for the forseeeable future. 

Totally agree. He’s 22 years old sporting an OPS over 800. The only everyday player higher is Bauers. People want Vaughn who is 40 points higher on OPS but can only play against a lefty and is a bad defender and can’t run. I will guess Chourio will OPS around 850 for the year. That is star level production. And he’s only 22. Some of our fans are just unrealistic. I will take a WRC plus of 127 for every single player on the team. 

[Jim French Stepstool]

40 minutes ago, baseball101 said:

Totally agree. He’s 22 years old sporting an OPS over 800. The only everyday player higher is Bauers. People want Vaughn who is 40 points higher on OPS but can only play against a lefty and is a bad defender and can’t run. I will guess Chourio will OPS around 850 for the year. That is star level production. And he’s only 22. Some of our fans are just unrealistic. I will take a WRC plus of 127 for every single player on the team. 

I think Chourio is a major talent & one of their most productive hitters. My bone to pick is where I see him AB-to-AB consistency wise----of course I don't expect a successful trip to the plate every time up, but the swing decisions can go from pretty good to really, really bad, often within the same game & vs the same pitcher. I get that he's 22. That's the good news; room for growth as he gets more comfortable each trip to the plate, understands what pitchers are trying to do to him & the best way to counter it.

I agree that he'll put up good numbers this year; maybe an .850 OPS as you said. Too talented not to. I just see room for more as he grows, as the poor ABs (hopefully) become scarcer, resulting in fewer Ks, more walks & more favorable counts.

Agree 100% re Vaughn. I think some are still living the '25 season pre-hamate when he got & stayed hot. Certainly can still help but it appears he pretty much needs to be pigeonholed.